To us, understanding that the IP due diligence exercise is crucial to the decision making process, time critical, and constrained by a budget, is absolutely essential to a client's success.
Our advantage in conducting due diligence lies in the fact that our day-to-day work is with the IP courts, offices and tribunals that assess the patents, trade marks and designs under consideration. Acting as both patentee and opponent during opposition and appeal proceedings at the European Patent Office for example, positions us uniquely to assess the value and strength of patent rights for a potential investor company or their main competitor.
In addition to covering all technical areas, our attorneys and lawyers are able to advise on trade marks, design rights, legal services and dispute resolution. Our highly skilled attorneys and solicitors have the experience to conduct a focused, high quality due diligence exercise on your behalf.
Whether conducting an assessment of your own IP assets, or an evaluation of a third party’s IP under consideration for purchase or licensing, we typically concentrate on the following key areas:
- Distinguish the critical intellectual property
- Clarify ownership and ensure all necessary rights are obtained and maintained
- Assess the overall scope, strengths and weaknesses of an IP portfolio
- Determine the freedom to operate of lead project objectives
- Assess the strength of the critical IP in the relevant jurisdictions (territorial coverage)
- Assess for infringing activity
- Anti–trust issues
- Confidential information and know-how
- Validity
Our ability to drill down to the important issues enables us to give you sound commercial advice in respect of any IP assets under consideration.
